Health insurance premium renewal rates increased an average of 6.2 percent for all plans in 2015, up from the previous year’s 5.6 percent increase, according to UBA’s Health Plan Survey. Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees, which account for five million U.S. employers, were hit the hardest—see our breaking news with the details.

Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and health care flexible spending accounts (HFSAs) are generally referred to as account-based plans. That is because each participant has their own account, at least for bookkeeping purposes. Under the tax rules, amounts may be contributed to these accounts (with certain restrictions) and used for health care on a tax-favored basis.

Are you benchmarking your health plan correctly? If you are using data from your carrier or a small study of only large employers, chances are you are not effectively analyzing your rates. To truly benchmark your plan, you need to compare your plan to others in your state, industry, and size category.

UBA offers a comprehensive library of ACA Advisors and white papers to help employers navigate health care cost and compliance. Every year we look at the documents most accessed by employers and remind our audience of these helpful, free resources. Here’s what was most in demand in 2015.

The UBA Health Plan Survey tracks plans offered by region as well as enrollment by region. From a prevalence perspective, preferred provider organization (PPO) plans are most prevalent in the Central U.S., though they generally dominate nationwide, except in the Northeast where consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are most prevalent.

As a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) triggering cost increases for fully insured employer-sponsored health insurance plans, more employers are moving to a self-funded model for pharmacy plans, particularly among large employers (1,000+ employees), according to the 2014 United Benefit Advisors (UBA) Health Plan Survey.

Employer health savings account (HSA) funding strategies have changed in recent years in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and its impact on employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Employers are contributing less, on average, to HSAs and the increase in popularity of cost-saving consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) has also had a major impact on how employers use these accounts.

In 2014, employees saw a 10 percent decrease in their average single HSA employer contribution from the previous year, from $574 in 2013 to $515 in 2014, according to new data released from the 2014 UBA Health Plan Survey, the largest health benefits survey in the nation. Average family contributions also decreased 7 percent during the same period, from $958 to $890.

UBA publishes many white papers, an executive summary of its annual Health Plan Survey, and other custom reports. Below are the publications that garnered the most interest and requests from employers in 2014.